Cats
"WOOHOO! TO THE ISLAND OF MEAT!"
"Luffy, it is not the Island of Meat! Haven't you been listening to anything I've just told you!"
(o-o)
"But why have I gotta do it?"
"Because I did it last week,"
"Well, what about Zoro?"
"He'd burn it."
"It's laundry!"
"Exactly."
"Well why not Nami? She never does anything!"
(o-o)
If Robin had learnt anything over her last week with the Straw Hat Pirates it was that shouting seemed to be their way of affection. The more shouting there was, the happier they were.
The historian watched as Usopp stumbled out of the kitchen, his long nose peeking over the top of a large bundle that he was struggling to keep his arms around.
Sanji's head shoot out of the door after him, "Nami-san should never have to dirty her hands with servant's work," he sniffed imperiously.
"Hey I'm not a servant!" The bundle slipped precariously and Usopp nudged it up with a knee.
"No, we'd pay you if you were a servant."
"Oi!" Usopp raised a fist to Sanji's face, allowing the bundle to finally break free and bound towards Robin like a large, over-enthusiastic puppy. Without looking up from her book the new edition to the Straw Hat Pirates sprouted a hand from her elbow and stopped the tumbling mass in its tracks.
"Idiot! You almost hit Robin-chan!" Sanji barked at the unfortunate marksman and suddenly his foot was slamming down on the back of Usopp's head.
"Ow…" Usopp replied woozily.
"Now you can do all the girls' washing too!"
"Urrh!" Sanji slammed the door and, from his position on the floor, Usopp shook his fists unhappily.
"Usopp! Washing or no money at the next island, your choice!" Nami suddenly snapped, her eyes glaring away from her captain who she'd given up hope of chastising.
"B-but," suddenly the marksman was standing and rubbing a lump forming under his skin, "I need more paint and gunpowder!"
"Then get washing!"
"Ne Sanji! Is it time for dinner yet!" Robin had also learned that Luffy never seemed bothered by the arguments erupting around him- especially when meal times were approaching. Whether this was due to a preoccupation with food rendering him deaf to the world around him, or whether he knew his crew too well to take anything seriously, was somewhat questionable, though Robin had on occasion found herself leaning towards the former; in fact, had gambling been in her nature Robin may have wagered that the One Piece itself could land on the seat beside him and Luffy would pay no attention to it until every last piece of food available had disappeared into his bottomless stomach.
Robin chuckled and looked back at her book
"What are you reading Robin-san?" A small voice inquired from her feet.
"It's a book on antique swords, Doctor-san," she replied melodiously.
"Can I see?" Chopper asked as he struggled to pull himself up the side of the boat so he was at a better level.
"Of course," Robin turned the pages towards him as a few helping hands lifted the reindeer up.
"Isn't that one of Zoro's swords?" he asked in surprise, pointing towards a pale white drawing in the corner.
Robin smiled, "Wadou Ichimonji, yes. It's a very beautiful sword."
Chopper nodded enthusiastically, "are any of his other swords in there?"
"Both of them; Swordsman-san has a unique collection."
"Wow!" The small doctor's eyes shined excitedly.
Robin laughed, "Yes, wow." She looked over at where the swordsman in question was napping. Sleeping, it seemed, was the man's hobby, and he was often to be found curled around his swords on the edge of the deck.
"Saaaanjiiii! I'm hungry!" Luffy wailed pitifully, collapsing backwards down the neck of the Going Merry's figurehead as the cook burst through the kitchen door.
Sanji duly ignored him, "Robin-chwan, Nami-swan, I've prepared for you a beautiful picnic!"
"Oooh!" Luffy rushed to Sanji's side only to have the plate roughly jerked away from his sneaking hands.
"This is for Nami-san and Robin-chan, no touching!"
"Buut Saan-"
"Yours is in there," Sanji jerked his head towards the kitchen and Luffy almost knocked him over in his attempt to fly. The blond cook sniffed contemptuously and continued down the stairs to lay his array of food out on the table with a flurry.
"Is that lunch?" Usopp asked, coming out of the washing room and inching towards the table with a drooling mouth.
"Kitchen," Sanji retorted flatly. Usopp laughed happily and bounded up the stairs before Luffy managed to devour it all himself.
"Are you not hungry, Doctor-san?" Robin asked the reindeer beside her.
Chopper shook his head, "why do you have a book on old swords, Robin-san?"
"They're called Meitou," Robin smiled, ignoring the question.
"Meitou?"
"Swords with a legendary status and with a lot of history behind them."
"Is that why you like them, because of the history?"
Robin smiled again but said nothing. In truth she had also bought books on cooking, medicine, and cartography before they had been driven out of the last town. It was silly to think that by reading a book she could understand her new companions, but then the Straw Hat Pirates were silly, and Robin was pretty sure she was as much entitled to her share of said silliness as the rest of them.
"Robin-chan! Aren't you eating?" the worried voice of the ship's cook pulled Robin's gaze and she flashed him a smile.
"Of course, Cook-san." She rose gracefully and stepped over the table, her chair trailing behind her on newly acquired feet.
"Sanji-kun do you think you could get me a drink? I'm starting to feel a little warm..." Nami beseeched the love-struck man who had already started running off with a joyful: 'aye Nami-san!' before she's managed to reach the end of her sentence. The redhead blinked after his dust for a second before chuckling, maybe a little smugly, and turning back around. Robin caught her eye as she sat.
"Are we far from our next stop, Navigator-san?"
"We should reach the Agri Island within the next day," Nami replied, helping herself to something that vaguely resembled an untangled brain (and probably was an untangled brain) but which Robin was confident would taste fantastic, "the old man at the docks said it was only about 100 miles away. Oh this is amazing, you really should try some." Nami pushed the probably-untangled-brains across the table.
Robin nodded, "I believe we are running out of supplies, our last trip was somewhat unsuccessful." She delicately twirled a long string around her chopsticks and brought it to her mouth as Nami replied.
"Only because Luffy decided to stir up trouble in another restaurant. If he'd just stop agitating marines we wouldn't get run out of every other town we come to."
Robin laughed, "Asking Luffy to stay out of trouble is about as equivalent to asking him to stay still." Robin daintily bit off the top of her chopstick's new addition and chewed thoughtfully, "You're right, it's delicious."
Nami sighed and nodded, "I don't know how he manages it, and in a picnic... it's just weird."
"Is that lunch?" a rough voice interrupted their musings and Robin looked over at the swordsman strolling towards then, one hand massaging the back of his neck absentmindedly.
"Yes," she replied simply.
Zoro's sleepy eyes slipped over the table and he plucked a boiled egg from a small side plate to Robin's left.
"Where do you get some of that?" Zoro asked, pointing at the lavishly presented ham that Robin had just placed on her plate.
"I believe there was some in the kitchen, but Luffy's been in there for last five minutes."
Zoro frowned and grabbed two more eggs before falling into a spare chair. Robin watched him flick a yolk back on the plate before delicately selecting the yellow ball from its landing place and slipping it passed her lips.
Zoro pulled a face, "How can you eat that?"
"I don't like the white." Robin replied with a smile as he flicked another yolk on the plate. He watched with a morbid fascination as she popped this one into her mouth as well.
"You're one weird chick," he replied with a shake of his head.
"And you just ate a chick." She told him with laughing eyes.
Zoro eyed her warily, "weird," he repeated.
"Oi, your lunch is inside!" Robin glanced behind her to see Sanji standing in front of the kitchen with two drinks in his hands.
"She didn't want it, stupid love-cook," he retorted as he took another egg and bit into it deliberately.
"Don't touch that! That's Robin-chan's and Nami-san's picnic!"
"Sanji?" Nami called sweetly, "My drink?"
It was as though a switch had been flicked inside the man's head; his eyes become doting and he swooned happily. "Aye Nami-swan!" he called as he floated down the staircase, "and one for you too Robin-chwan!" The doting eyes turned on her and Robin barely contained a laugh. Sanji was possibly one of the stranger things aboard the Merry, but it was almost impossible not to like him.
"Thank you, Cook-san," Robin replied demurely, content with the ridiculousness of her new crew.
Slowly, Zoro reached for another egg. He selected a plump one and was flicking the yolk back seconds later as he chewed smugly on the white.
Sanji exploded.
Robin slipped the yolk into her mouth as Sanji attempted to boot Zoro in the gut only to be neatly evaded and tricked into a chase which Luffy and Usopp promptly converted into a game of tag as soon as they had cleaned out the kitchen.
"Long-nose-kun," Robin called as Usopp ran past her, "is the washing done yet?"
Usopp opened his mouth to reply but was rudely interrupted.
"Tag, Usopp!" Luffy yelled as he bent his arm round the main mast.
"Oi! That's cheating!" Usopp shouted at his captain and dashed furiously up the stairs after him.
Robin sighed and then smiled, "I suppose that's a no then."
"Probably," Nami agreed, "I'll go and see." The red-head disappeared into the washing room just as Luffy launched himself back down from the top deck.
"Huh? Where's Nami?" He asked, his head darting from side to side.
"She's checking on the washing." Robin replied.
"What?" Sanji cried, running into view, "Nami-san shouldn't be doing servant's work! Usopp! Why is Nami-san doing servant's work?"
"I don't know!" Usopp yelled, running past as he tried to tag his evasive captain. "I didn't tell her to do it!"
Sanji charged and Usopp yelped but Sanji ran straight passed him yelling, "Nami-swan! Let me help you!"
The sharpshooter made an exaggerated gesture of wiping his brow, "I'm safe!" he exclaimed.
"Ne, Usopp! Aren't you playing anymore?" Luffy's disappointed face peered from behind the main mast.
"Yeah, I'm coming, give me a minute!" Usopp turned back around, "Hey, Chopper, do you wanna play too? I'm getting tired of Captain always coming after me- he cheats!"
"I do not!"
"Sure!" Chopper beamed and quickly took off running in the opposite direction.
"Hey! I was gonna tag you!" Usopp raced after the small doctor, followed by Luffy who was complaining about being forgotten.
Robin smiled again and looked back at her book, hoping to finally be given some peace, but her efforts were foiled only seconds later by Zoro reclaiming his former seat and stealing the last egg.
The yolk flicked back onto the plate and Robin claimed it reflexively, "have fun?"
"Hmmm… Are you gonna eat that?" he pointed at the food still on the table.
"Cook-san greatly over-estimates my appetite." Robin replied.
Zoro grunted, picking up a piece of untangled-brain, "probably expects half of it will get stolen anyway."
"Mostly likely," Robin agreed.
"What do reckon this is?" Zoro asked, studying the crinkled meat.
Robin blinked, "brain."
"Hmm," the pirate shrugged and ate it.
Robin wondered if the captain's ability to eat anything without a second thought had since rubbed off on his crew members.
"OI!" Robin sighed, at this rate she'd be lucky to have her book finished by next year.
"What do you want love-cook?"
"I want you to stop eating Robin-chan's food! I didn't make it for you." Sanji pulled a face.
"She said I could have it."
"Don't call Robin-chan 'she', she has a name, Marimo Head."
"Say that again you shitty love-cook…" Zoro growled back.
"Ma. Ri. Mo. Head." Sanji replied slowly.
"You're dead." Zoro declared as he jumped out of his seat, sword in hand.
"I've put the washing on to dry, so I'm just going to go back to our room." Nami said as the two attempted to throw each other across the ship, "I want to get my map of the last island done before we reach the next one, and we've only about an hour and half until we get there, do you mind?"
"Of course not, Navigator-san," Robin replied.
Nami nodded thankfully, "I won't be long; I'll probably see you in an hour or so."
"See you in an hour." Nami disappeared into the room they shared and Robin stared down at her book, wondering it would be worth trying to read it or whether she should just give up now.
A loud thump and gleeful laugh erupted next to her, "Ne, Robin!"
Robin sighed and looked down at the puppy pile her captain had managed to make.
"Oi Luffy, get off!" Zoro somehow managed to holler past squashed ribs.
"How about you get off?" Sanji snarled from beneath him.
"I can't get off if Luffy doesn't get off me first shitty cook!"
"Then move him yourself!"
"Why don't you do it yourself!"
"Because you're in the way!"
"Is there ever a time where the two of you are not fighting?" Robin asked over their verbal brawl.
Luffy laughed boisterously, his hand keeping hold of his hat as he fell backwards, finally giving Zoro the room to push him off.
"Yeah, when I'm nowhere near this idiot," he scowled.
"Then why don't you get lost already?" Sanji snarked as he stood and brushed himself down.
Zoro growled angrily but had apparently taken all of the cook he could take for one day without serious attempts at homicide and stalked off before he could rise to the bait.
"Ne Robin?" Luffy repeated as he sat back up, a grin plastered from ear to ear and his hat sitting crookedly across his head.
"Yes Captain-san?"
"Nami has a birthday next week," he replied with aplomb.
"NAMI-SWAN'S BIRTHDAY?" Sanji whooped, "I will create for her a birthday feast so delicious she will fall instantly in love with me!" He declared grandly. It was clear the scene was already playing itself in his head even as he floated off to his kitchen to design said feast.
"Eh? I didn't know Sanji could float," Luffy head tilted to the side like a confused dog.
"I think it's mostly just for effect, Captain-san."
"Oh," Luffy responded disappointedly. Robin waited patiently for him to continue his conversation but the rubber pirate was not forthcoming.
"Was that all Captain-san?"
"Huh? Oh, no," he grinned, "I wanted to ask what I should get her. Chopper said I should get her what she likes most but treasure's really hard to find!" Luffy pouted and crossed his arms like a child who has just realised that it's not going to happen the way they want it to no matter what sound level they manage to achieve.
"Perhaps there is something else she would like instead, Captain-san? Some paper for her maps?"
"Yeah but she only likes the special stuff." Luffy pulled a face, "besides, I have no money to buy anything because she's got it all. And she won't give me anything because she'll think I'm buying meat, then even if she did, if I saw meat I'd probably forget about the paper and buy the meat anyway!"
Robin raised an eyebrow, "I see," well at least he'd realised he had developed a strange addiction to meat somewhere down the line.
"What should I do?" Luffy moaned dramatically.
"Well what else does navigator-san like?" Robin asked, wondering why the boy had thought she'd make a good advisor of presents for a person she'd only known for less than a month and a half.
"Erm… oranges? Those orange trees are all hers," Luffy beamed proudly.
"Well the next island is a farming isle isn't it, that's why we're hoping to pick up cheap supplies there. I'm sure they'll have plant food for fruit trees that you could get her. I could come with you to make sure you don't spend it on anything else if you'd like." Robin suggested.
Luffy mouth stretched into an impossible grin "You're awesome Robin!" he laughed merrily and jumped up from his seat on the deck, "Yosh! Now that's sorted I can get some meat!"
Suddenly Robin found herself alone again and, curiously, she glanced round the small, patchily-repaired ship. Sanji, Luffy and Nami had all disappeared inside, Zoro was lifting a dumbbell as heavy as Robin with each arm, and the remaining participants of tag were sprawled out across the deck floor as they slowly recovered from the breathless effects of their game.
They were like cats, she decided, they had a mad half hour and then it would suddenly be as though it had never happened. Shaking her head bemusedly Robin finally bowed her head to finish reading the last few pages of her chapter.
…